On Saturday, Shooter Jennings released a statement through his official Facebook page that accused I, Trigger of Saving Country Music, of participating in the hacking of one of his websites. The germane parts of the post are quoted below, while the entirety of Shooter’s statement can be found at the bottom of this page.

“Moonrunners would be the victim of an attack that would labor our site with malware and a virus…that would be downloaded upon the computer of each person that would visit Moonrunners…The hacker enlisted to do such a thing left his fingerprints all over the site. A few thin layers back we were able to match the IP address within a very close margin of that same person who “sneaker’d” SCM for vulnerability.

This is a federal offense of the biggest kind. These IP addresses have been logged and a case has been opened to investigate the actual steps that led from the cleaning of SCM to the hacking of Moonrunners. I’d be willing to bet that when we discover the actual identity of the IP address we’ve logged, we can match it to someone who posts on SCM.

There will be two options. Trigger, you come clean, or we lean on his hacker until he comes clean for you.”

Saving Country Music’s Official Response to Shooter’s Accusations

I, Kyle Stephen Coroneos, aka “Trigger” or “The Triggerman” from Saving Country Music, swear on my father’s grave, the grave of Christopher Coroneos Jr., who died the day before Christmas Eve 1982 when I was 5 years old, that I had absolutely, positively no involvement whatsoever with the hacking of any website, and especially any website associated, affiliated, or owned by Shooter Jennings. I also swear on my father’s grave that I had no affiliation, knowledge, or offered any material support to anyone who may have hacked any website, at any point.

Furthermore, I, Kyle Stephen Coroneos, aka “Trigger” or “The Triggerman” from Saving Country Music, swear on my father’s grave that if at any point, any evidence is presented that holds up in a court of law proving that I had any direct or indirect involvement with the hacking of any website, then I will completely and totally end the existence of Saving Country Music, take it offline, delete the entire archive, and do my best to clean any record of its existence in any public medium. I also encourage, if not plead with the public to take all of these preceding statements and spread them across the entirety of the internet and print media so as there is no question as to the seriousness and resoluteness of these statements I have made, and that nothing but the most dire consequences would result if they are ever found to be false.

I also declare my willingness to repeat these statements when looking at any individual dead in the eye, or with my hand on a Holy Bible, in a court of law, or when hooked up to a polygraph lie detector machine, so help me God.

Shooter Jennings is a boldface liar. He has absolutely, positively no evidence whatsoever to back up his spurious, irresponsible, and fictitious claims; a truth he admits himself in his own statement. All that has been provided up to this point to coincide with his damaging accusations are disjointed gobbledygook assertions that in no way are intuitively or technically sound. Furthermore Saving Country Music has proven, with evidence that would hold up in a court of law–and that Shooter Jennings himself has admitted to–that Shooter Jennings and his toadies have purposely lied to and mislead people on this very website in a premeditated, systemic, and long-term attempt to expressly and purposely undermine the integrity of Saving Country Music by perpetuating as many as 20 different aliases in the site’s comment sections, including impersonations of specific people, while also spreading other lies similar to the recent hacking accusation through both Shooter’s various internet properties and social network outlets.

Make no mistake, there is nothing that Saving Country Music is more proud of in its 5 years of service to music than its direct and vehement opposition of Shooter Jennings and his irresponsible, and damaging actions towards multiple entities and elements of the music community. It is the opinion of Saving Country Music that Shooter Jennings is the most dangerous, most deceptive artist that exists in the greater country music community, and his recent, irresponsible accusations, presented with absolutely no evidence, are further proof of his pattern of reckless and damaging behavior, if not evidence that a civil crime has been committed by his slanderous attempts to undermine a public enterprise.

And lastly, Shooter’s deceiving and devious attempts at friendship and positivity embedded in his accusations, and specifically his “if/or” statements threatening Saving Country Music with further action, including legal repercussions if it does not “come clean” about its activities involving the hacking of websites, is not just tantamount to blackmail and extortion, it is blackmail and extortion by definition.

Saving Country Music apologizes to all of its readers, proponents, sponsors, and any outside parties who have either been harmed or inconvenienced by the continuing incidences involving Shooter Jennings, and promises to do its best to mitigate any drama in the future. However, when accusations are leveled at Saving Country Music of this magnitude, and in a public forum, it is imperative they be addressed, and addressed in a public forum, to ensure the integrity of the Saving Country Music name.

A More In-Depth Explanation of the Situation

First off, as referenced above, you can read an in-depth and evidence-based analysis of how Shooter Jennings and his toadies lied and attempted to undermine this site ON THIS POST. You can also she where “Jashie P” admitted to using multiple aliases HERE, and Shooter admitted to using multiple aliases HERE.

Listen folks, Shooter Jennings is a self-professed conspiracy theorist, and to forward a conspiracy theory, you don’t need any proof, you simply just need to create doubt. And that is all Shooter is trying to do here. There is no evidence, nor will there ever be evidence, unless it is manufactured, which would be a further entrenching into the criminal nature of his accusation.

Anybody with even the most intermediate understanding of the internet can look at the fundamentals of Shooter’s accusations, and tell that they are false. Every single website is constantly under threats of hacking/cyber-attack/malware intrusions at any time. A website doesn’t need to have enemies to be under threat. As I type these words, Saving Country Music is under cyber-attack from multiple threats. This website goes offline intermittently about 5-6 times an hour, and experiences major outages on a daily basis because of all the spam and hacks attempting to exploit the site. Understand that over 99% of these threats are automated. There is not someone sitting behind a computer, specifically trying to hack into anyone’s site. Bots and spiders crawl the internet and specific websites all the time looking for openings to exploit. If Shooter and Jashie hadn’t been spending so much time on this website perpetuating 20 different aliases attempting to undermine it, and noticed that their own website was standing open to common internet threats, then maybe they wouldn’t have ended up with a hacked site.

A couple of specific things that Shooter said: “he had an outside source check SCM for hacking vulnerability.”

Never happened. I have no idea what this is about. Either this is Shooter fabricating specifics to make his story look more believable, or he has a source that is lying to him, possibly the person who is claiming to be the hacker.

“A few thin layers back we were able to match the IP address within a very close margin of that same person who “sneaker’d” SCM for vulnerability.”

There is no “very close margin” when it comes to IP addresses. Either they are accurate, as were found it the case of Shooter’s aliases on this site, or they are not. Numbers are absolutes by definition.

“But we are smart, especially when it comes to computers and IP tracking.”

Then why didn’t they know that when they were perpetuating over 20 aliases on my site, that I would eventually catch on?

And lastly Shooter has said, “…since the hacker did not use a Tor or a IP cloaking device, the investigation will remain open to secure without a doubt the identity of the hacker.”

Then where is the evidence?!?!

Shooter surmised that since I had the motive, I must have been the one to hack the site. And in the face of a complete lack of evidence, thought that if they said they knew it was me and that they had did evidence (though they really didn’t, and never presented it), I would get scared and fess up before the situation got any worse for me. And then they would never need any evidence.

As much as an evil, conniving bastard as anyone may think I am, understand that I at least believe in honor amongst thieves. As someone who spends on average of 50 hours a week working on a website, and as someone who is a constant, perpetual victim of cyber-attack, the absolute last thing I would want for ANY website is for it to get hacked. In this respect, all website owners, including SCM and Moonrunnners, are allies. I want someone’s website to get hacked about as much as I want someone’s freedom of speech impinged on, which is truly what is at the heart of this matter. Shooter is attempting to silence my dissension with lies and intimidation. It will not work.

Shooter’s Complete Statement from Facebook

THE MOUNTING CASE AGAINST “TRIGGER”

For those of you that aren’t aware of Trigger, he is the “benevolent dictator” of SavingCountryMusic.com. While I value that site as an important source for the independent roots and country movements, there has been much “below the belt” interaction between Trigger and myself. As far as the personal blows are concerned, I don’t spend time worrying about such things, no press is bad press, BUT there is a much bigger problem that has arisen. Not long ago, Trigger posted a reply to “The Gunslinger”, a song from my new record ‘The Other Life’. Somehow folks have assumed that this song had to do with him (I am including his hilarious response to the song as part of this post), again more drama that really has helped us gain traction with the record, which I can do nothing but praise him for.

But for those of you that don’t know the back story with Trigger, at one point JahshieP’s “Outlaw Radio Chicago” was hosted at SCM. JahshieP interviewed me back in 2011, and we quickly became friends. (I’ve just finished producing his band Last False Hope’s upcoming album, which I am very proud of). Anyways, not long after JahshieP and I met, he began to confide in me the nature of the tyrannical sociopathic behavior that Trigger (then Triggerman) had begun to display in terms of his radio show. He asked me if I knew where he could find a home on the internet for his site that he wouldn’t have rules, criticism and restrictions put upon him. As a friend and a fan, I gladly gave him solace at BlackCountryRock.org, and we quickly built the network of radio programs that JahshieP had been envisioning for his internet radio career. This is where the anger began with Trigger.

To make this point very clear, not a year later JahshieP, Adam Sheets, Bob Dean and myself started a blog called Moonrunners, that would be our outlet for our perception of the world, and the burgeoning roots movement happening around us. We were fans and we wanted to be yet another source (not a competition) for this culture and music. We’ve had some success, including a sold out Chicago festival that JahshieP put together all himself that added to the already institutional Muddy Roots and Farmageddon Records Festivals helping expose America to this great new movement of music.

But we are smart, especially when it comes to computers and IP tracking. Not a day or so before Trigger posted his response, he had an outside source check SCM for hacking vulnerability. Hmmm… Could this be because he thought maybe his response would anger us enough to hack his site? No way! We don’t operate that way, that would be a childish maneuver and would be uncalled for really. His article wasn’t slanderous (even though many have been before). But little did we know that not 5 days later Moonrunners would be the victim of an attack that would labor our site with malware and a virus (a relatively non-functional amateur one at that) that would be downloaded upon the computer of each person that would visit Moonrunners.

Hmmm. What happened here? All of a sudden we were hacked and basically blackballed from Google for the time being. What a random attack right!? Terrible luck I guess! Just kidding! We have trackers, internet bloodhounds if you will. And those dogs tracked the attack to JahshieP’s account (which he happened to use the same password from his years at SCM for — not the smartest move — but in this case a bear-trap of monumental proportions). The hacker enlisted to do such a thing left his fingerprints all over the site. A few thin layers back we were able to match the IP address within a very close margin of that same person who “sneaker’d” SCM for vulnerability.

This is a federal offense of the biggest kind.

These IP addresses have been logged and a case has been opened to investigate the actual steps that led from the cleaning of SCM to the hacking of Moonrunners. I’d be willing to bet that when we discover the actual identity of the IP address we’ve logged, we can match it to someone who posts on SCM.

There will be two options. Trigger, you come clean, or we lean on his hacker until he comes clean for you.

I’m sure the response here will be that he doesn’t know what we’re talking about, and this post can disappear into oblivion, but just be aware this data has been stored, logged, and is being examined by folks who take this kind of thing very seriously. I look forward to finding out where this goes. It may take a year, but the man who did the dirty work for the dictator may be wise enough to perk up and let us know what happened before he gets into more trouble than he may be able to handle. I don’t believe in coincidences, and in this situation the mounting case against Trigger seems very grim. Let’s hope all parties take credit for what has gone on and maybe there can be some forgiveness had before things get very sticky, but at this point in time, it seems as if hardball must be played by all parties.

So please, if you are a fan of this, and want the drama to end, as I do and all of our friends do, realize what kind of game is being played and what the ultimate score is. I’ve begged Trigger to be friends, and I hope in the future we can be, and if he fesses up to this extremely base act, maybe we can all find a way to co-exist, but until then, we will continue to investigate this until there is nothing but proof to lay on the table.

If we are wrong, then then coincidences are real and the easter bunny is a really cheap son-of-a-bitch.

Im sorry but this is fucking retarded. Shooter needs to turn off his computer, unplug his internet and take a nice long walk to think about all of this. Is he really that pompous to believe that he will be able to lay federal charges on anyone regarding this? Does he truly think he is that important? The courts will laugh in his face. Shooter if you are listening – I was never a big fan of your music but that will never get in the way of how I view you as a person. You have done a great job making yourself look like an idiot with statements like that one above and with all your internet posts desperately trying to defend yourself. You just dig yourself a bigger hole. Think long and hard before you post some more paranoid bullshit on the internet. You dont want your legacy to be that one son of Waylon who put out some subpar directionless albums and then talked tall on some internet blogs and messageboards. Do the big name country acts have PR people who prevent shit like this and everything before happening or is Shooter really that petty and insecure he legitimately feels the need to do this?

Man I tried to stay neutral because I like shooters music partly and partly cause he is Walyons blood ……..But he`s starting to annoy the fuck out of me . I know he wouldn’t give a rats ass about that but its like he needs his mama to but his midget ass over her knee . I believe you Kyle and Im gonna say fuck you Shooter , you wont be getting a dime from me anymore until you grow up some son.

I think the feds would be more concerned with my neighbour Jim stealing a satellite signal than Shooter’s little blogspot being “hacked”.

This has to be a joke. I hope Shooter is reading this (he probably is to “comb for evidence” so he can “lean on the perp until he gives up SCM” LOL come the fuck on, how old is Shooter? 13?

And to anyone who says Trigger is just as much to blame, he is a blogger, its his job to report on whatever he feels relevant to SCM. Shooter is supposed to be an artist and a musician (albeit a poor one) so he should stick to just that.

Hank 3 got it right, like his music or not, hes focused on his art and music 100%, recording, producing, playing, touring, running label etc. Fuck ive read this site for years and never thought id take part of the whole Hank vs Shooter debate but this is just fucking sad.

Another video in a truckstop cowboy hat could’ve made this more entertaining. *yawn*

A couple of clarifications:

“There is no “very close margin” when it comes to IP addresses. Either they are accurate, as were found it the case of Shooter”™s aliases on this site, or they are not.”

Wrong. ISPs buy blocks of IPs. Say your IP is x.x.x.138 right now and after shutting down your computer for a few days or resetting your cable modem, whatever, you get back online and your IP has changed. It will still be an IP within the block that your ISP owns.. maybe even x.x.x.139. Either way, you can lookup the IP’s hostmask and it will tell you the ISP (and many cases, the location). I think you know this but are attempting to mislead readers of this fact. Not every IP is static and there is a very close margin associated with them. Period.

“Well isn”™t that convenient. Now Shooter never has to present evidence, he can simply say the hacker was so adept, we”™ll never know the true identity”¦but we all know it is Trigger. ”

I don’t think you read the statement. The statement you quoted said the hacker did not use Tor or try to hide his real IP in any way. That is not being adept… it’s being inept and the statement said just that. You’re twisting it around a complete 180 and attempting to make it seem like the exact opposite of what was said.

Awh man, this guy again? So sorry Trigger… We’ll keep a closer eye out. Keep that little HB flag flyin over there in the squares… Its stuck in the ground, and I’d liked it cleaned of any misguided footprints around it. We hope this clears up soon and you get back to bringing us the good stuff. Thanks for introducing us to Hellbound Glory, Sunday Valley/Sturgill Simpson, and others. Hey man, I’d like to request a post on the Welch Family. That is lineage that I would like to learn more about. I’ve seen Dustin, and a new fan of the Trisha’s, it’s all stellar stuff. Lookin forward to the upcoming Valerie June and Sturgill Simpson interviews.

I have not ever been or will be a shooter fan. Even before I found SCM I thought that Shooters style did not belong in the genre he tries to inject himself into. I find a lot of his songs off key and a miserable waste of listening time. I can only find one song per album that could classified as listenable. After reading the posts from the shooter fans and reading what shooter himself has to say I am convinced that no matter the circumstances I will not give one hard earned dime towards him. I am going to roots this year and the only bummer about it is that Shooter will be there. I think I will put my ear buds in and listen to a real man in country music: Mister Waylon Jennings.

When did the underground country music scene turn into a teenage girl fight? This looks pathetic! I really don’t care who is right or wrong. The fact is, people go to both sources for valuable information, and they are bombarded with drama crap. This is puts a terrible look on our music scene.

Really getting tired of seeing this crap in the comments and as main articles. I’ve been coming to this website for information for many years, and I have recently slowed down my usage because of it. Trigger, I am begging you to take the high road and move on. These articles are not relevant to country music. Any comments about the drama in the comment section should be deleted. Keep it about the music only Trigger. I promise you that you’ll come out looking better.

Look. First off, I understand many people like to say they are tired of the drama. The simple fact is, and studies of internet behavior proves this, that if people are truly tired of seeing drama, then the never see it. Literally, they never see it. We are bombarded with so much media on any given day, if there is something that doesn’t interest us, it literally doesn’t register to our brain. It becomes invisible. So if you or anybody else doesn’t want to see the drama, then don’t look at it. It’s funny, I never get comments complaining that people are tired of seeing album reviews, but nobody read them. The truth is, they are completely tired of seeing album reviews, that’s just not as cool to say.

As for the scene, as I have been saying for years, I am not a part of ANY “scene,” especially any scene with Shooter Jennings. I hate the word “scene.” It think it is positively vile. Though a “scene” can offer some small support to up-and-coming artists, if they don’t get out of the scene quickly, then the scene becomes where good music goes to die.

Shooter and I are not just a couple of dudes in a “scene” who don;t understand that we should be fighting for the same goals, I believe Shooter Jennings to be the most damaging individual in all of country music right now. The reason there continues to be conflict is because people keep attempting to resolve our differences. More damaging than Blake Shelton or Taylor Swift. And this most recent episode proves that. I’m sorry if all the verbiage and back and forths makes your head tired. And that’s fine, then avoid them. I posted an album review today too, that guess what, nobody read. But there is nothing more important to Saving Country Music, then saving off the lies and bullshit of Shooter Jennings, no matter how unpopular these posts are to the “scene.”

Trigger – Bates is right and your defensive response is ridiculous. By your logic, you should convert this to a lesbian porn site because that would get the most traffic. Take the high road already. Be above this. Thanks for exposing me to some great bands and acts. No thanks for this BS.

It’s time to put this to rest. I am a fan of both Shooter’s music & of this website. I believe that both Shooter & Trigger are both far too intelligent to actually do physical harm to eachother. However, in this day & age, you have no idea what type of person is reading this & taking it way too seriously. There are some crazy people out there, and you never know who is reading these posts and what they may do. I would love to see this come to an end before someone takes it too far and somebody gets hurt for real. That would just suck for everyone involved.

” I want to publicly and vehemently renounce violence, and threats of violence, to anyone, or from anyone, for any reason, and specifically relating to any reason involving music. This includes threats toward Shooter Jennings or his fans, towards pop country personalities and their fans, or for any disagreements or misunderstandings or different interpretations of what music is good, and what music is not good. I also challenge anyone to comb through the vast archives of Saving Country Music”™s content and find instances where violence or threats of violence were leveled at anyone by me.”

And what was Shooter’s response? Accusations that I hacked his website (when really it was some porn site virus on one of his podcaster’s computers) and an attempt at extortion and threats of federal prosecution. I have also been called “crazy” and “delusional” for feeling the same way you do about this situation multiple times in the past couple of days, and many times in regards to that “Gunslinger” post. I still believe this will escalate to where someone gets hurt.

And I would’ve been much happier today watching Talladega. But sometimes the fight comes to you and you have to stand up and be a man. A 1998 Tacoma and my name is all I’ve got. Gotta protect it the best I can, despite how unpopular it may be.

Additionally if a person has a federal case the first advice of a seasoned lawyer is to never talk about it. Let alone act in public finger pointing w/out a trial. Anyone with half a brain can tell that this is propaganda.

So folks, at 10:10 CST on 5/5/2013, let me tell what is going to transpire next with this thing. At some point in the future, Shooter Jennings is going to present some screen shots of IP address, presented with the same disjointed and fey verbiage his initial accusations were, and the line of demarcation between people who will believe it and people will won’t will depend on if you think kissing Shooter’s ass will mean he will play your music on his off-peak satellite radio show or not. Should be fun!

After this post, everything else is going to be handled privately. I understand folks are tired of seeing this. But please put yourself in my shoes. If someone had accused you of a “Federal offense of the biggest kind,” wouldn’t you at least want it out there that you refute the accusations? Also, SCM is a news outlet. The purpose of Shooter’s words were to discredit this site for what it does. This is a little different than it would be for a normal individual, or even another artist.

I know this is sort of the cliche cry in a conflict, but seriously, I hadn’t mentioned Shooter’s name except in passing and in an non-combative manner 6 weeks prior to this. This was instigated from Shooter out of left field. And as of yet, I haven’t seen anybody on any of his posts relating to this asking him to stop the drama.

I believe that you had no choice but to deal with these latest accusations and threats forcefully and unequivocally. I’m an old Graham Parker fan and there’s a song on his new album where he apparently quotes Mark Twain by saying “a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on.” I think that would be the danger to your site and good name if you didn’t do what you did here.

Plus, Shooter doesn’t mind making his crap public, so why should you (if only to refute public statements)? There’s something I need clarification on, though, if you have the time: just what is the deal with Shooter Jennings? The first time I ever heard about him was in 2006 when his single “Gone to Carolina” failed to chart. I remember thinking that his Southern Rock-esque “Country” was a bit odd, and his blatant attempt to look like his father (in dress and guitar) was off-putting. Since then, however, I’d not heard anything else about him until becoming a regular reader of this site. Aside from his feud with you, what about his music is particularly damaging to the genre we love?

Honestly, I don’t think this is the right context to talk about his music in. I would encourage you to read my previous posts about his music (search button in top right corner), and any discussions or opinions of his music I believe should be delivered divested from any of this drama.

Gosh Kyle, for awhile I was concerned that you were maybe becoming a little bit paranoid, but now you’ve been fully vindicated! I’ve always suspected that Shooter suffers from sort sort of brain damage, but now I am convinced! I sure wouldn’t want that nut job coming after me for any reason…

“I”™ve begged Trigger to be friends, and I hope in the future we can be,”

I had to point out that this is the worst bullshit line of the whole epic whinefest.
If the boy meant this in any way he would have contacted you in private and hashed this out man to man. Got your side of the story before going off on you in cyberspace. He can’t match wits with you by no means so I honestly think he wants to discredit you and shut you up any way he can. Stay vigilant and make him look stupid please.

This is stupid. Apparently underground country music has become just like the late 90s rap scene. A freaking pissing match. It’s all fun and games till someone gets killed… Or sued in this case. Pathetic.

Damn..you guys really need to get over this shit. I only read about a quarter of this page, but seriously. I really respect you Trigger and this blog. I agree with pretty much everything you say. But I also really respect Shooter as an artist. Especially with his newest album, I was really surprised. I don’t know why he would really think you would do that, because I don’t believe it. But still, this whole situation is getting annoying. Bury the hatchet already. You guys both seem to have similar opinions on music, so what is the big deal?

LOL wth. You think that one lyric was made about you, he thinks you hacked his site. It’s like both of you are paranoid that the other one is out to get you. I’ve seen HS student-weed dealers on days the drug dogs are at school act less paranoid than y’all.

I apologize. It was apparently a T-shirt he was wearing. Your direct quote on twitter was “Awesome! Great video of Shooter wearing a shirt that has a death threat to yours truly on the back. How “outlaw” of him!”. Now also, I am more of a fan of you than him, I don’t listen to him, I do read this site occasionally.

Then when you say “Just proves how Shooter and his toadies are using the intellectual laziness of folks to their advantage”…you just did exactly what I was saying you did in my comment lol,… Why you reply to any of his antics just baffles me, especially when you’ve said on this exact page a few comments up that you want separation yet you refuse to separate yourself from any situation involving the “feud” between y’all. Also, insulting the people that read your site is another baffling thing. Why the hell would you do that? You obviously are very knowledgeable about country and generally post good articles, so luckily for you, you won’t be losing a reader.. But, it isn’t a good habit to be an asshole to visitors of your page when you’re “saving country music.” which while I’m aware you’re not actually out to save it, your goal is to at least shed light and raise the popularity of the actual good country out there. So one would think you would want to bring as much people in to your site instead of being an asshole to them and sending people away.

Now lemme get back to the thoughts on the ‘feud’…it’s getting so ridiculous that it’s almost starting to seem staged between y’all to get you both some publicity. Seriously, two grown men taking petty shots at each other on the internet for well over a year? I barely turned 21, I still have friends in high school…and none of them ever get into year long e-fights. I do see my 15 year old, overdramatic female cousin do it though. I’m assuming you’re older than 15 and not a female, and it appears Shooter is older than 15 and not a female as well…yet here you are.. So, I’m not saying the whole thing is staged at all, I’m just saying it is ridiculous enough to be so.

I didn’t call you intellectually lazy directly, I said this was something that Shooter and his todies rely on to help spread their propaganda. But as you admit, you didn’t have your facts straight. You went back a very long way to find a tweet from me, but didn’t go to the relevant article on the “Gunslinger” article to pull out the direct quotes where I say that I am not sure if the song is about me or not. Furthermore, neither of these things take into account that I received two personal and direct death threats through email on the same day Shooter left a comment on this site under an alias, verified through his IP address and displayed publicly for all the world to verify, that had a similar threat that named my specific address. And yes, I will go to battle with my commenters, just as I expect them to go to battle with me to hold me accountable for my actions. So be prepared, and bring a thick skin. That doesn’t mean that discussions can’t ensue and there still be respect between both parties.

I read all the comments posted on this site and I treat the sentiments in them with respect. But when it comes to this situation, people can complain all they want that they’re tired of seeing this stuff, but I had no choice but to respond to the accusations Shooter forwarded in an attempt to destroy this website. Let me make something clear. The motive behind Shooter’s comments was to destroy Saving Country Music. Let me repeat: THE MOTIVE BEHIND SHOOTER’S COMMENTS WAS TO DESTROY SAVING COUNTRY MUSIC. And not responding would have been an admonition of guilt, and probably would have resulted in the destruction of this website eventually. I have not talked to ONE lawyer, publicist, manager, legal aid (of which I have talked to many) about this situation that has said I didn’t do exactly what they would have recommended, and I responded as I did on the recommendation of legal professionals. Everything else is irrelevant. You and a few other commenters don’t like it? Tough titty. I’m sorry if you don’t understand how when a man with a bullhorn the size of Shooter Jennings basically calls you a felon and a hacker and says he’s going to bring “federal charges of the highest order” against you, that you must respond and respond publicly, but that is what needed to be done. And if Shooter leveled another accusation my way today, I would respond in public again.

Lastly, you and anybody else who says they’re tired of seeing the drama are the ones that love the drama the most. The people who say they’re tired of seeing drama are the FIRST to stick their nose in it, and the LAST to pull it out, and this wave of comments that came in yesterday, all within a couple of hours of each other, is living proof of this. The more you complain about the drama, but then come here to publish long-winded comments about it, go back years to find tweets about it, the more you prove that you LOVE this drama beyond any other content on this site. You eat it up. Like a dog wallowing in something smelly, you nuzzle deep into it, spreading it all over yourself.

Oh, come on man. It’s the 5th article on the home page of your site…and nobody looks to see when the last comment was. That would make for inefficient article viewing, generally, considering most articles that are the 5th on a main page of a website are less than a few hours old.